Hi guys i've been considering changing the Black shadow speaker in my F50 for something else. I've had the amp for a few months now and use it regulary for band practise and gigging and it always gets a good workout. But, i'm struggling with my overdrive tone. It always sounds a bit harsh and thin to me with a very powerful attack. Whilst i like this for the heavier stuff we do i can never seem to get a nice classic rock crunch that isn't completely 'in your face'.

I'm wondering if changing the speaker might help, maybe something with less top end and a bit more warmth? Anyone gone down this route?Thanks, Nick

Hi Paul, i do use a couple of pedals (Throttle box eq for metal, Guvnor for classic rock type stuff) but it would be nice to be able to use the amps distortion if possible, if i can get it sounding how i like it that is.

Maybe i just need to dial it in better, but it seems no matter what settings i try it never really changes very much.

I'm actually on my second F50..never should have sold the first one as it sounded way better when using the drive channel. The cleans are excellent but the one I have now is as you described so I use a Free The Tone SOV and a Zendrive for more gainy sounds including a TC Hall Of Fame for Reverb and then really just using the amp for the excellent clean channel. I put stock Mesa tubes in it and a complete service but it stayed the same when using the drive channel. I might try and pickup a Lonestar as its a different beast but way smoother..hope you get sorted!

Nick79 wrote:

Hi Paul, i do use a couple of pedals (Throttle box eq for metal, Guvnor for classic rock type stuff) but it would be nice to be able to use the amps distortion if possible, if i can get it sounding how i like it that is.

Maybe i just need to dial it in better, but it seems no matter what settings i try it never really changes very much.

Try and tweak the tone a bit. On the drive channel, disengage the scoop on the pedal, cut the reverb way down, back off the treble (9 or 10 O'Clock) and the bass same as the treble, turn up the mids to 2 O'Clock. You will find that with the mids up, there is a lot of bass also. Turning down the treble will kill some of the thin. It will have a more guitar tone frequency. The overall tone will sit better with a band.

Thanks guys, regarding Oldtelecasterman's post, where abouts do you put your gain setting? I'll try those settings out next chance i get.I played a gig the other night and put it through a 2x12 cab, sounded monstrous. I didn't check to see what speakers it had in it but i'll find out. Whatever they were they were very sensitive, i had to knock back the gain settings quite a bit on my overdive pedal.

Just a quick update.....The last couple of gigs i've ran the treble almost off, mids up about three quarters and bass a quarter way up. Gain just over halfway and with contour on. And i'm loving it, its weird but i've suddenly clicked with this amp and finally after owning it for some months i'm happy with channel 2.

Only problem i'm finding though is i can't turn it up enough to get into the sweet zone. Channel 2 wasnt even a quarter of the way at Saturdays gig and it was still damn loud. I'm thinking of trying an attenuater next to get the power amp section cooking without killing everyone